Fund Raiser
by Xeen Cyr
Summary: Another day on the force. Sam & Andy undercover...


ROOKIE BLUE

**Fund Raiser**

A Sam/Andy fic

Just a quick sketch of our heroes undercover. Since they pose as complete strangers, they can do whatever they want ;) This is my first Rookie Blue fic, please bear with me... No flame please!

-o-

She could feel his dark eyes bearing holes in her naked back. She straightened unconsciously, her hair dancing on her shoulder blades and resisted staring back. She entered the ball room with Sam Swarek in her wake and abruptly stopped, shading her eyes from the bright light. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do against the loud background music. She made an inappropriate face.

Three hours ago, her eighth week on the job was finally over. She was washing down the dirt from a previous case. Savouring the splashing tepid water on her face, she kept wondering how Sam Swarek, her training officer and present object of her indecisive affection could manage to stay neat as a new pin after nine hours chasing bad guys. Dirt was incrusted in every pore of her skin and both her uniforms were ruined. At this rate, there was no way she could keep up with dry cleaning. She had to put a request for a third one. Was she allowed to do that? She'd have to ask Sam.

"McNally, you decent?" Swarek barked from the locker room.

"Yes si… Sam. What are you doing?" she yelped, "I'm in the shower."

"I gather that much. Boyko wants to see us asap. When you're ready, that is…" he said.

She listened intently. Was he gone? "Sam?"

"Yep?" His voice was very very close. "Do you need me to rub your back?"

She almost tripped in the shower. "Do you know what he wants."

"Nothing good on a late Saturday afternoon, if you ask me. Want me to stay and help you speed things up?" he chuckled.

"No thanks, no need to start a new rule yet. You're fine where you are. I'll be ready in five."

"I can't wait."

She heard the door slam behind him and started to breathe again. She turned the water to cold to clear her head.

"Officer Nash won't be able to attend the Mayor's fund raiser tonight. She was to pose as a rich heiress with Officer Williams as her mother. Officer Williams will stay in the Press room with me and the backup. You, officer McNally will play the rich heiress instead. You're the only suitable replacement at such short notice. As you're aware, we need new faces if we want to win on that front. You'll have Nash's cocktail dress delivered here within the hour."

"But I'm not Traci's size!" she protested.

"It will have to do. We don't have time to get you another dress."

"And remember, there's no search at the door, no metal detectors, so be extra careful. Now run, you'll need some shoes. Here is the money I could make available. Do your best."

She took the envelop and winced. "Yes sir," she ducked her head, evaluating the content.

"Be back within the hour McNally. I'm counting on you. Don't overdo it. It's only 400 dollars."

"Four hun…. Holly Molly!" Sam whistled.

"Officer Swarek, you'll be her date for tonight. You'll need to find a suit or a tux in our collection here. You know the drill. Blend in, make friends and try to find if the threats against Mayor Gerstein are real. Go, serve, protect and make me proud, officers."

"400 bucks! Geez, I'll give you my shoes and we could buy ourselves a trip to Peru instead, what do you say?" Sam said as soon as they were outside.

"Sorry, sir, I forgot," she turned around and rushed inside Boyko's office.

"Sir, what colour is the dress?"

And now, there she was, deafened by the worst music ever, half naked in a yellow dress, matching slingbacks and clutch, trying to fool herself. This was not a date. This was not only the worst evening ever, this was an assignment, undercover.

She swaggered when she felt Sam bump against her. He put a light hand on her elbow and nudged her forward.

"I'd rather be watching the Celtics with a fully loaded icebox at my feet," he whispered in her ear.

She glanced in his direction, cautiously took a whiff of his Cologne. So far so good. He was still in _'it was what it was'_ mode. His face was intent, focused on the job at hand. He gave her one of his quick smiles.

"Shall we?" he insisted and she finally moved forward.

He was just a bit older than she was, but his years on the job made him look older. The first faint lines were beginning to show at the corner of his eyes that seem to read her every thought. She glided to their designated table and he helped her sit down, his right hand brushing her back.

He sat beside her, fanning the room for something out of the ordinary and covering his mouth with his hand, "so far, so good McNally. That wasn't so hard in the end, was it?"

She knew it was not a question but she could help to snap back. "Speak for yourself, you don't have to wear this!" Her hand floated in the air and she chuckled.

"I take it that yellow is not your colour then," he smiled, his eyes never leaving the crowd surrounding them. "You look good McNally, you can take my word for it. You're not a fan of organza dinner dress? Or is it the low back," he teased her, "you wouldn't want to put it the other way round," he winked.

She blushed and tried to hide her burning face behind her tiny clutch bag. "It was supposed to be Traci's," she moaned. She closed her eyes. What was it with her? She couldn't stop whining, that was not very sexy. Not that she wanted to be sexy anyway. Not with Sam around. Nodding absently, she finally smiled. "I know, I shouldn't complain. Leo has a bad case of otitis. But…"

"Suspect at your ten," Sam smiled back. He carefully sat her bag on the table, took hers hands in his and kissed them. "Do you see him?"

"You sure?" His thumb was tracing circles on her palm, distracting her. She shivered.

"Don't you think he's with the Mayor's staff?"

"Hm hm," he nodded, getting closer, he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "can't be. Look at his shoes."

She nodded, her forehead brushing his. He finally let go of her and signalled a waiter. The guy reluctantly came to their table. When he was two feet away from her, she recognized Officer Shaw.

"I'll have a glass of Champagne and…"

"Don't push your luck Sammie," the officer groaned. "Spot something?" He carefully poured half a glass without making a fool of himself.

"That guy, red hair, glasses, two tables away from the Mayor's, have a look at the shoes. Runners."

"Check. Bambi, want something, now that your training officer made me come over here, I should as well perform my duty."

"Champagne, thanks," she whispered, feeling self-conscious again under the scrutiny of the two men.

"You keep in mind what I told you Sammie? Keep your distance."

"Who are you my mother? Darling, what if I take you to the Hamptons instead?" he said, without blinking, pressing her hands in his. "We could leave now. Come with me, you have only one word to say…"

"You're insane!" grumbled Oliver. He moved away, pouring Champagne on his way to the press room.

"I think I made another one," she whispered, leaning towards Swarek and tilting her head.

"Stop that, he'll spot us."

"No he won't, he'll think we're in love." She kissed him softly on the mouth and sat back. She took a sip of her glass. "Mmm, good stuff," she said, "you should try it. What do we do now?"

"Ollie probably already informed the rookies upstairs in the security room. We need to find the third one."

"The third one?"

"Yes, they are at least three. More, it'll alert security. Less, they'd be careless"

"The woman, blue navy cocktail dress?"

"Nope. Mrs McCluski."

"Oops."

It took them the best part of the evening to find a third party matching their search. Long after the speech and the auctions and the rest of the speeches. The staff was pushing tables aside for the dance to begin and the pompous red velvet curtains unveiled a full jazz orchestra.

"Huh, huh," said Sam. "More bad news." He stood up, worried and dragged her to the next wall.

"What's going on?"

"The orchestra. It's not good. No one told me about that."

"You think that…"

"The weapons. They must have grease some palms to get them inside. This is the only way. Boyko is an idiot. I have to find Ollie."

"Sam, on your right, watch out."

Even the next morning and the day that followed, she was having trouble to put this night's events in perspective. That went so fast. The first guy had a machine pistol, probably a Uzi, and he was set to shoot the crowd. Her shouting startled him and he shot her instead. Except that Sam leaped forward and took the bullets.

He dropped like a stone.

"God, please make him have a vest," she blurted out, falling on her knees. "Sam, you okay? Do you hear me, Sam!"

She heard the tremor around her, and from the corner of her eye, saw the uniforms and SWAT teams pouring inside the room.

He was bleeding.

He didn't breathe.

She reached out to her radio. She was wearing none. Where to put it?

"Stupid. Stupid, you're stupid. Sam, stay with me, please, Sam!" She started compressions and when she was on the verge of collapsing, he started breathing again. "Help, help me, officer down," she jumped to her feet, her yellow dress soaked in blood and shouted, her voice a tiny whisper in the general hoo-ha.

She wouldn't let him ride alone to the hospital. She grabbed his hand and never let go.

-o-

"Hey you... Are we in Peru?"

She looks up and smiles. "You're awake? How are you feeling?"

"Alive… Like I've been beaten."

"What would you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You know."

"To save your ass was the general idea."

"I mean, you could have been killed."

"Well," he shrugs and winces form the pain. "I wasn't… You were in the ambulance, weren't you?" She nods, unable to speak. "You should get some sleep, you look terrible," he smiles.

"Thanks, you look worse. Sam, you took six bullets, 4 in the vest, 2 in the shoulder."

"My new record," he says in a low voice, his voice fainting.

"Your heart stopped," her voice is quivering, tears swelling.

"Really… I doubt that."

"I know!" she comes closer, takes his hand gently.

"My heart can't stop when I'm with you," he whispers before sinking back to oblivion.

-o-

I know corny huh, my bad ^-^


End file.
